This invention relates to the technical sector of apparatuses dispensing cellulose wadding, creped paper towels and towels of similar materials, especially those intended for wiping the user""s hands and toilet paper.
There are a very large number of manual, semi-automatic and automatic dispensing apparatuses which perform the function mentioned above. The Applicant, in particular, has developed several apparatuses of this type with central unreeling, folding of the strip of material in accordion pleats and also as an automatic paper towel dispenser using a cutting device built into a drive drum. All these apparatuses are currently in use and operate very reliably. The cost price of these various apparatuses varies greatly depending on their construction and they are suited to different market segments.
As part of his own research, the Applicant is interested in designing a new automatic apparatus of which the architecture includes a reduced number of parts so that he can target the market for low-cost paper towel or toilet paper dispensing apparatuses.
One object sought after according to the invention was to design an apparatus devised so that its various components can be assembled manually in a quick, simple manner without requiring any non-standard tools.
Another object sought after according to the invention was to design an apparatus in which the various components are, once fitted, self-locking and suitable for dispensing paper regardless of the tension stresses produced when the user pulls the paper.
Another object sought after according to the invention was to ensure the locking of the components of the apparatus in position by making use of the elasticity of certain fixed parts formed on the support housing and cover.
Another object sought after according to the invention was to produce an apparatus that can be quickly assembled or disassembled by an operator and that also allows the characteristics of the drum and cutting device to be altered if necessary without modifying the structure of the apparatus.
These objects and others will become apparent from the following description.
According to a first aspect, the automatic dispensing apparatus for material paper towels or toilet paper is distinctive in that it comprises a molded housing made of plastic of which the upper part contains a take-off reel of paper towels or toilet paper, a cutting-blade holder having a hinged cutting blade, a support drum and a tensioning device that ensures feeding of the paper band to the drum and tensioning of the paper, the hinged cutting blade in the drum being moved by cooperation of a toothed heel associated with the shaft of the cutting blade holder and cooperating with a rack device internally fixed on one of the sides of the housing, the drum being associated with a start mechanism, a protective cover hinged relative to the housing and clicking onto the latter, and in that the protective housing is devised with parallel flanges that are perpendicular to the rear plane of the housing in the paper towel version or between a front flange and the rear wall of the housing in the toilet paper dispensing version in order to allow the drum and tensioning device to be fitted by clicking them in, said flanges or rear walls of the apparatus being made with tongues capable of elastic deformation due to preformed elasticity slits on the flanges and/or rear wall of the apparatus, said tongues having recesses to accommodate the tensioning device and the flanges and/or rear wall of the housing and the front flange also having scalloping to position the ends of the drum shaft.
According to another aspect, the various recesses for the ends of the shafts of the tensioning device of the drum face opposite each other and in that the tongues that receive the tensioning device press, by elasticity, the tensioning device against the drum and ensure that the tensioning device of the drum locks itself into position in the housing of the apparatus and in that unobstructed access to the areas for positioning the tensioning device and the drum is obtained through cutouts made on the front of said tongues and flanges allowing quick assembly of the apparatus components.
According to another aspect, the one-piece drum comprises a shaft around which there is, over part or all of its circular periphery, a plurality of adjacent parallel discs comprising intermediate discs fo the same configuration used to press the pulled paper band and having scalloping around their periphery in order to position and accommodate the cutting blade in the idle position, said shaft accommodating a first front end disc and a second rear end disc making it possible to position and hinge the cutting blade and in that the rear end disc is equipped with a means defining an internal chamber to accommodate a rack device that adapts to a fixed position on the opposite side of the housing and in that the blade holder is devised with one end opposite the means with a heel-shaped part comprising a plurality of teeth forming a matching rack device capable of cooperating, when the drum rotates, with a plurality of teeth constituting a fixed rack device formed on the means and in that a limit stop ensures, after partial rotation of the drum with a view to cutting the paper band, re-engagement of said cutting blade along a trajectory opposite to the direction of rotation of the drum into the scalloping formed on the latter during the additional rotation of the drum with a view to presenting it for a new operating cycle, and in that rotation of the drum is obtained by means of a tensioning device that feeds the paper band towards the drum and it is tensioned by the user pulling on the end of the paper band.
According to another aspect, the protective cover comprises means in the form of lugs that are capable of pressing against the tongues that receive the tensioning device and/or against the flanges of the housing that accommodates the drum and/or against the tongues and against said flanges.
These aspects and others will become apparent from the following description.